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1 Mar 2010 : Column 876W—continued
Bangladesh: Overseas Aid
Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development to what projects and programmes he has allocated funding for the development of micropayment transaction systems in Bangladesh in the last five years. [318912]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) has funded the £13.4 million Remittances and Payments Partnership (RPP) project since 2006. RPP is helping to modernise Bangladesh's payment systems, including supporting the legal framework for micropayment transactions and reducing the costs of remittances for the poor. A challenge fund under RPP has supported both piloting and scaling up of innovative micropayment transaction systems.
DFID has not supported any other such projects or programmes in Bangladesh in the last five years.
Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much funding the (a) Grameen bank and (b) Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee has received for the purposes of developing a micropayment transaction system in the last five years. [318913]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) has not provided any funding to either Grameen Bank or BRAC to develop micropayment transaction systems in the last five years.
Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether he has had recent discussions with (a) Muhammad Yunus and (b) Grameen bank on micropayment transactions in Bangladesh. [318914]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) has had no such recent discussions with Professor Yunus or with Grameen Bank.
DFID, together with the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), recently organised a conference on "Expanding Financial Services in Bangladesh" to which Grameen Bank was invited along with other banks and micro-finance lenders. Discussions at the conference focused on how to reach those without bank accounts and improve payment systems in Bangladesh, particularly using mobile telephones.
Departmental Advertising
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much (a) his Department and (b) each (i) non-departmental public body and (ii) executive agency for which his Department is responsible spent on advertising in 2009. [318835]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) works in over 100 countries across the world and advertising can play a significant role in achieving development programme objectives including the promotion of health issues. It is not possible to disaggregate these costs from development programme expenditure without incurring disproportionate costs.
The Commonwealth Scholarship Commission spent £5,888.90 on advertising in 2009. DFID is not responsible for any executive agencies.
Departmental Carbon Emissions
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate he has made of the amount of carbon dioxide emissions from his Department's buildings in each year since 2005. [318834]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) records and reports its environmental performance on a financial year basis. Data on energy use on the UK estate, and the corresponding carbon emissions, is reported in accordance with the "Sustainable Operations on the Government Estate" targets and is available on the websites of the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) and the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC).
The carbon dioxide emissions from our UK estate since 2005 were as follows:
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Departmental Energy
Dan Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department plans to take to participate in the Earth Hour event on 27 March 2010. [319096]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) will participate in the Earth Hour event, and take action to ensure that all non-essential lighting in our UK offices is turned off during this time. We will also be actively encouraging our overseas offices to take whatever action they can, depending on local circumstances.
Departmental Internet
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many designs for its website his Department has commissioned since 2005. [318648]
Mr. Michael Foster: Since 2005, the Department for International Development (DFID) has commissioned one new design, preceded by a simple refresh which enabled feedback to be gathered and inform the new design.
Developing Countries: Water
Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether he plans to attend UNICEF's high level meeting on water and sanitation in April 2010; and if he will make a statement. [318580]
Mr. Michael Foster: This is a very important event and the Department for International Development (DFID) has been working closely with UNICEF to help ensure it is a success. I hope that the Secretary of State or I will be able to attend. If, however, for unavoidable reasons this is not possible, we will ensure that DFID is represented at a high level.
Haiti: Earthquakes
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department has spent on relief and deployments to Haiti since the earthquake on 12 January 2010. [319430]
Mr. Michael Foster: Since the earthquake on 12 January 2010, the Department for International Development (DFID) has allocated £20 million for relief and recovery in Haiti.
Overseas Aid
Mr. Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether he has made an assessment of the merits of taking steps to assist developing countries to follow the procurement and contracting procedures set by the World Bank in respect of access to aid. [318610]
Mr. Thomas: The World Bank offers assistance to help developing countries understand and use its procurement systems. No requests have been made by the World Bank or developing countries for assistance from the Department for International Development (DFID) and we have not carried out an assessment.
Sri Lanka: EU External Trade
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what his Department's policy is on the suspension of Sri Lanka's GSP+ trade preference scheme status; and if he will make a statement. [318680]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) fully supports the EU's decision to remove GSP+ trade preferences from Sri Lanka. Failure to implement core human rights conventions in Sri Lanka is unacceptable and the European Commission's report into these failures made the decision a straightforward one. I understand the importance of GSP+ to the Sri Lankan economy and I hope the EU's decision will encourage the government to take necessary action to implement its human rights obligations under GSP+.
The Foreign Secretary released a written ministerial statement to Parliament on 23 February 2010, Official Report, columns 36-38WS, outlining recent developments in the political and humanitarian situation in Sri Lanka, including the UK position on GSP+.
Sudan: Non-Governmental Organisations
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which non-governmental organisations his Department is funding to conduct aid work in (a) Sudan and (b) Iraq; and how much each such organisation has been allocated for work in each country for 2009-10. [318797]
Mr. Michael Foster: Details of the Department for International Development's (DFID) bilateral aid delivered by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in recipient countries are published annually in "Statistics on International Development", which is available in the House Library or online at:
Final data for 2009-10 is not yet available and will be published in the 2010 edition of "Statistics on International Development".
Following is a list of NGOs DFID is currently funding to conduct working in Sudan and Iraq in 2009-10. In addition to the direct funding to NGOs, DFID also provides support to a number of pooled funds through which NGOs can access funding; it is not possible to break down the recipients of these funds.
Medair
Tear Fund
GOAL
Malaria Consortium
Red R
International Red Cross
BBC World Service Trust
Care International
Christian Aid
Help Age International
Mines Advisory Group
Save the Children.
Home Department
Al-Qaeda
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) individuals and (b) asylum seekers resident in the UK are on the UN list of those belonging to or associated with al-Qaeda. [317773]
Alan Johnson: The latest UN Consolidated List of individuals who are associated with al-Qaeda is available on the UN Security Council Sanctions Committees' website at:
We do not provide information that might identify those who have sought asylum in the United Kingdom, for obvious reasons.
Anti-terrorism Control Orders
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 10 February 2010, Official Report, column 1053W, on control orders, if he will set out the working practices which allow judges and special advocates to access closed judgments; and if he will make a statement. [318762]
Mr. Hanson [holding answer 25 February 2010]: There are no restrictions on judges accessing closed judgments unless there are exceptional circumstances.
Practical arrangements have been developed to enable special advocates to see closed judgments in cases in which they are not instructed. The Special Advocates Support Office (SASO) maintains a library and database of all closed judgments. If a special advocate wishes to see a closed judgment he or she directs a request to the SASO, giving reasons why he or she needs to see it.
SASO will provide the judgment as long as adequate justification is provided. SASO keep a record of to whom and when judgments have been provided and notify the Home Office of the details via the Treasury Solicitor's Department. Once a special advocate has seen a closed judgment in a case in which he or she is not instructed, he or she will be prevented from acting in any related cases unless the individual in that case indicates in advance that they do not wish to meet with the special advocate.
Arrest Warrants
Mr. Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average time taken to secure the transfer to UK jurisdiction of an alleged criminal from each member state of the European Union was (a) in each of the last three years before and (b) after the entry into force of the provisions of the European Arrest Warrant; and if he will make a statement. [317727]
Meg Hillier: Prior to 1 January 2004, extradition requests from prosecutors in England and Wales to other jurisdictions were sent via the Home Office. Since 1 January 2004, when the European arrest warrant (EAW) came into force, the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (for EAWs concerning Scotland) are the designated authorities for the receipt and transmission of EAWs in the UK.
(a) To collate this data would involve a manual examination of all records from 2001 onwards and would incur disproportionate cost. However, in "The Law on Extradition: A Review", published by the Home Office in March 2001 the then Home Secretary explained that in 2000, surrenders to the UK of persons who did not consent to extradition took an average of 10 months to complete. This does not include those surrendered to Scotland or Northern Ireland.
(b) It is not possible from SOCA current systems to provide data broken down into the time taken to secure transfer to UK jurisdiction of an alleged criminal from each member state of the European Union therefore an average time cannot be calculated. This would require a manual examination of all files and incur disproportionate cost.
However, a report by the European Commission published in May 2009 found that contested EAWs executed by EU member states had taken an average of 43 days to complete.
Asylum
Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people of each country of origin were (a) granted and (b) refused asylum in each quarter of (i) 2007, (ii) 2008 and (iii) 2009; and if he will make a statement. [317198]
Mr. Woolas: Due to the quantity of data requested, the full response has been placed in the Library.
The data have previously been published on the Home Office website as provisional data in the following publications:
Control of Immigration: Quarterly Statistical Summary (Q2 2008 to Q3 2009)
Quarterly Asylum Statistics (Q1 2007 to Q1 2008).
Data for Q1 2007 to Q4 2008, in the tables placed in the Library, have been updated from the provisional data contained in the above publications to reflect the latest available figures, as a result of data cleansing and updating of the administrative database. Data for 2008 remains provisional.
Provisional data for quarter four 2009 will be available in the Control of Immigration: Quarterly Statistical Summary Q4 2009, due to be published on 25 February 2010. These will be available on the Home Office website at:
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